Last month, the board of commissioners of the autonomous city agency approved the new contract for Oren Dabney that took effect Wednesday.

The new pact gives Dabney a base salary of $126,215, a 4.8 percent increase from his current pay. He also will be entitled to annual increases of up to 4 percent after the first year.

But Dabney has received flak from several City Council members for getting a pay hike even though his agency has a nearly $7 million deficit.

And in light of discussions to consolidate the JCIA with the city's Department of Public Works, these council members object to the provision of the contact that grants Dabney pay and benefits for five years whether or not the JCIA is in existence.

Dabney said he has no intention of accepting a raise until his other workers at the agency can also be given pay hikes.

"I should note that although my old contract allowed it, I have voluntarily not taken a raise in three years," Dabney wrote in a letter to The Jersey Journal. "I will continue to not do so until we are able to afford raises to my dedicated union and non-union employees."

In three 4-5 votes Wednesday night, the City Council shot down three resolutions involving the matter.

One resolution called for the resignation of the JCIA commissioners who approved Dabney's new contract even though he still had two years to go on his old contract.

Another resolution called for the JCIA commissioners to void Dabney's new contract.
A third resolution would have established a council sub-committee to investigate the approval of director contracts at all of the autonomous agencies.

Council members Steven Fulop, Nidia Lopez, David Donnelly and Rolando Lavarro voted in the minority in each case.

Reiterating comments she made Monday, Councilwoman Viola Richardson said Wednesday that opposition to Dabney's pay increase was based on racism.

"My problem is that we sat around here and every other director got raises, benefits and whatever ever they wanted, and not a mumbling word was said until Oren Dabney got his," Richardson said. "You can call it what you like. It's a racist action."

Dabney is African-American.

Fulop dismissed Richardson's allegations of racism on Wednesday, saying that the consolidation of the JCIA has been at the forefront of discussions about reducing city expenditures.

"When you look at the performance of the Incinerator Authority you could say it was under-funded, but at the end of the day, you are given a budget of what to spend, and the director spends whatever he wants," Fulop said. "That's not called under-funding. That's not the way a business works."